Belgium beats England 2-0 to finish third place in the World Cup

Belgium earned its highest World Cup finish on Saturday by beating England 2-0 in the third-place match.

Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard scored a goal each for the Belgians, who lost to France in the semifinals on Tuesday.

Both teams were playing for the seventh time in 26 days, but Belgium entered the match with an extra day of rest.

Meunier scored in the fourth minute, knocking a cross from Nacer Chadli past England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Hazard added the other off a pass from Kevin De Bruyne in the 82nd.

Toby Alderweireld denied England’s best chance of the game, sliding on the goal line to clear a shot from Eric Dier.

England, which lost to Croatia in the semifinals on Wednesday, matched its best World Cup result — fourth in 1990 — since winning the tournament for the only time in 1966.

At: http://time.com/5338840/world-cup-england-belgium/

Argentine campaign finance scandal: Macri ally blows whistle on massive laundering during 2015 race

A brewing campaign finance scandal involving Argentina's ruling party took a new twist yesterday when a former candidate for local office revealed that during the 2015 election "100% of the party's contributions were fake."

The statement was made by Osvaldo Marasco, then candidate for mayor of the Buenos Aires suburb of Ituzaingó for the "Let's Change" coalition led by current Argentine President Mauricio Macri.

Marasco corroborated research by the online news daily Diagonales that Macri's 2015 campaign used personal data of thousands of residents from 81 Buenos Aires Province cities to launder about 40 million pesos ($4.2 million at the time) in "private contributions."

He explained that the slush fund was managed by the president's cousin, Jorge Macri, as well as María Eugenia Vidal (who was elected governor of Buenos Aires Province that year) and other top Macri associates.

"They invented 'fundraising dinners' that never took place," Marasco said, "These were filled with names previously submitted to the electoral board to which donations of up to 50,000 pesos were then attributed."

Jorge Macri, mayor of the upscale Buenos Aires suburb of Vicente López, was, according to Marasco, "always behind all this."

The scheme, he said, was run out of Al Río, an office and residential complex built in Vicente López between 2012 and 2016. "There they have a bunker, a parallel city hall, and even an office for (Governor) Vidal," Marasco said, adding that these were financed with bribes extracted from the builder, Ribera Developments.

"They kept the top floors in one of the buildings; that's where everything is handled."

Cash is king

Marasco's revelations come three weeks after Juan Amorín of the progressive daily El Destape found 476 public aid recipients falsely listed as "contributors" by Macri's 2017 mid-term campaign.

The case, which has since expanded to over 800 corroborated cases, triggered a federal investigation on June 19.

Records show that 90% of their 2017 campaign contributions were in cash, compared to just 3% for the main opposition, the center-left United Citizens.

Macri has faced numerous campaign finance probes since the 2015 election, which he narrowly won.

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.diagonales.com%2Fcontenido%2Faportes-truchos--ex-pro-cont-cmo-financi-cambiemos-la-campaa-2015-y-quines-manejaron-el-dinero%2F10089&edit-text=

Macri's four laundreteers: Deputy Buenos Aires Mayor Diego Santilli; Buenos Aires Province Governor María Eugenia Vidal; Vicente López Mayor (and presidential cousin) Jorge Macri; and 2015 campaign manager Federico Salvai.

Mysterious black sarcophagus found in Egypt

An enormous black sarcophagus has been discovered during an archaeological dig in Egypt alongside an eerie alabaster head.

The mysterious coffin is 265cm (8' 8" ) long, 185cm (6') tall, and 165cm (5' 5" ) wide, making it the largest that has ever been found in the city of Alexandria.

It was discovered by an Egyptian archaeological mission after an ancient tomb dating back to the Ptolemaic period was uncovered during a construction dig.

Made of black granite, the sarcophagus was found five metres beneath the surface of the land beneath a layer of mortar. According to Dr. Ayman Ashmawy, the thick mortar between the sarcophagus and the surface indicates it had not been opened since it was closed around 35 BCE.

The archaeologists also discovered the alabaster head of a man potentially representing the owner of the tomb.

The find is considered to be extraordinarily rare as many older tombs have been plundered by criminals and thieves over the centuries.

At: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techandscience/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-found-in-egypt/ar-AAzWXii?li=AAgfYrC&OCID=ansmsnnews11

Croatia tops England in extra time to reach World Cup final

Source: USA Today

England saw its best chance of ending several generations’ worth of World Cup pain slip away on Wednesday night, as Croatia fought back for a 2-1 win in extra time, securing a spot against France in Sunday’s final.

England had not been to a semifinal since 1990, and not reached the title game since it won soccer’s greatest prize for the only time back in 1966. This, for much of a wild and rugged evening at Luzhniki Stadium, looked like the time. Until it wasn’t.

Croatia was one of the most impressive teams of the group stage before surviving two penalty shootouts to reach this point. Its technical ability and fierce resiliency allowed it to capitalize on England’s nervous lapses when victory was in sight.

Mario Mandzukic got the winner in injury time to put Croatia, with previously a tournament-best semifinal in 1998 to its name, one game away from winning it all.


Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/worldcup/2018/07/11/croatia-england-mario-mandzukic-world-cup-semifinals/776569002/

Judge orders Brazil's Lula freed on appeal

Source: BBC News

A Brazilian judge has ordered the release of ex-President Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva.

The judge said the left-wing politician must be released from prison in Curitiba while an appeal process is carried out.

Lula, who led the country from 2003 to 2010, had been sentenced to 12 years and one month in prison for corruption and money laundering. He was jailed after a close vote, with six Supreme Court Justice in favour of jailing him and five against.

He has always proclaimed his innocence, saying the conviction was politically motivated.

Polls conducted before he was jailed in April suggested that Lula was the frontrunner for the presidential elections, which will be held in October.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-44759692

Former Brazilian President Lula da Silva.

Arguably his country's most prominent detainee, he maintains a commanding lead in polls ahead of presidential elections this October.

Argentina's Macri forced to cancel independence day parade by military over wage dispute

Argentina's Defense Ministry confirmed that this year's independence day parade in the nation's capital, scheduled for July 9, will not be held.

Sources confirmed that they were forced to suspend the event, traditionally held along Buenos Aires' upscale Libertador Avenue, due to generalized military discontent with President Mauricio Macri's proposed wage hikes of 8% for officers and 15% for junior personnel.

Inflation in Argentina has soared in the first half of this year to an annualized rate of 36%.

The proposed reduction in real pay for the nation's 75,000 armed forces, as well as 700,000 other federal employees, is part of some $9 billion in budget cuts Macri agreed to with the IMF on June 8 in exchange for a record $50 billion stand-by credit line.

Opponents note that besides unconstitutionally overriding Congress' budgetary authority, the terms of the IMF bailout are recessionary and do little to curb a projected $40 billion current account deficit this year - the very cause of the crisis.

While not the only independence day military parade in Argentina, the Libertador Avenue event is the most politically important for Macri, who reinstated the tradition in 2016 after a 25-year absence.

His right-wing administration had pledged to enhance the military's role in civic life decades after the last military dictatorship discredited its armed forces through a "Dirty War" against dissidents in 1976 and the 1982 Falklands War.

Macri has recently proposed using the armed forces for policing and riot control.

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eldestapeweb.com%2Fescandalo-nacional-enojados-el-gobierno-los-militares-no-desfilaran-el-9-julio-n46114&edit-text=

Last year's Argentine independence day parade in Buenos Aires.

Sharp budget cuts this year prompted the armed forces to rain on Macri's parade instead.

EU votes to block controversial copyright law that would ban memes

Source: The Hill

The legislative body of the European Union on Thursday voted against a law that would have significantly reformed copyright rules on the internet, Politico reported.

The European Parliament rejected legislation that would have implemented harsher copyright enforcement rules online. Opponents of the measure warned it could alter the future of the web.

The bill, which passed through committee last month, would have required companies like Google and Facebook to buy licenses from news media companies before running links to their stories on their platforms.

It would have also required content uploaded within the EU to be screened for copyright infringement. Opponents of the law argued it would lead to the banishment of “memes” across the internet, though proponents disputed that claim, according to Politico.

The European Parliament rejected the bill, with 318 against it and 278 in favor; another 31 lawmakers abstained.

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/technology/395564-eu-votes-to-block-controversial-copyright-law-that-would-ban-memes

Ecuador court orders arrest of former President Rafael Correa in kidnap probe

An Ecuadorian court on Tuesday ordered the arrest of former President Rafael Correa, who lives in Brussels, over links to the kidnapping of an opponent in Colombia.

The National Court of Justice said Judge Daniella Camacho "resolves to impose preventive detention" against Correa and has alerted Interpol.

Correa, who was president from 2007 to 2017 and now lives in his wife's native Belgium, is under investigation for involvement in the attempted kidnapping of former right-wing Ecuadorian lawmaker Fernando Balda in Colombia in 2012.

Last month, the court ordered Correa to appear in court every two weeks. Three police intelligence agents have already been ordered arrested in the case, in addition to an ex-police commander and a former top intelligence official, who was arrested last month in Spain.

Correa believes his successor, President Lenin Moreno, may be behind the charges, and has accused him of misusing his power. He said in a recent Twitter message that he had no knowledge of the crime.

"Maybe they can get some false testimony. But they'll never prove anything, because there is nothing."

At: http://www.france24.com/en/20180704-ecuador-court-orders-arrest-ex-leader-correa-kidnap-probe

Former President of Ecuador Rafael Correa. Lawful arrest order, or lawfare?

Trump declines request to lower flags in memory of Capital Gazette shooting victims

Source: The Capital Gazette

President Donald Trump has declined a request from Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley to lower American flags in honor of the fatal shooting of five employees of The Capital Gazette newspaper last week.

Through Maryland's congressional delegation, Buckley put in a request to the White House over the weekend to lower the American flags.

Gov. Larry Hogan ordered Maryland state flags to be lowered to half-staff from Friday through sunset on Monday. Buckley had said he hoped having the American flags lowered, too, would help keep national attention on the attack.

Trump has ordered flags lowered for previous mass shootings, including in May after the deaths of 10 people at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, and the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, in February that left 17 dead.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-declines-request-to-lower-flags-in-memory-of-capital-gazette-shooting-victims/ar-AAzv18p

Yasemin Jamison rests her head on Carol Geithner's shoulder during a candlelight vigil on Friday, June 29, 2018, at Annapolis Mall for the five Capital Gazette employees slain during a shooting spree in their newsroom.

Mexico elects left-leaning populist as president to chart a new course

Source: USA Today

Mexican voters upended the country's political order Sunday, according to exit polls, by supporting a left-leaning populist as the next president who vows to make changes.

The candidate of Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), José Antonio Meade, conceded defeat on television to Andrés Manuel López Obrador soon after the polls closed at 9 p.m. Eastern. The exit-poll survey by Consulta Mitofsky projected López Obrador had a 16 to 26% lead over his nearest rival, conservative Ricardo Anaya. Meade finished third, according to the survey.

López Obrador, 64, commonly known as AMLO and making his third bid for the presidency, held a commanding lead in the polls ahead of Sunday's vote.

The former mayor of Mexico City has promised to “uproot corruption,” increase social spending and pursue a different approach to crack down on drug cartels – even floating the idea of amnesty for those involved if not accused of serious offences.

López Obrador had cast his ballot early in the day, saying, “More than an election, it’s going to be a referendum. People will decide between more of the same or real change.”

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/07/01/mexico-votes-president/749379002/

The President-elect of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. A new beginning?